Book Description
An acclaimed military historian leads you into the world of the combat sniper-on the safe side of the crosshairs...
From the black-powder chaos of the American Revolution to the bitter carnage of Vietnam, he is a presence as familiar to war as death itself. He is the combat sniper-revered as the ultimate warrior by some and reviled as a monster by those who have known the terror of his invisible ambush.
As the "Wild Boys" who crawled the no-man's-land between the trenches in WWI, terrorizing the enemy and dodging fire from the shelter of shell craters.
As the officer-hunting German snipers is WWII's Normandy-so unnerving that hardened commanders began to disguise their rank.
As the men who boasted a shot/ill ration of 1.7 to 1 in Vietnam-a figure that was 50,000 to 1 among general soldiers.
From the evolution of the art, to firsthand accounts of legendary exploits, through the basics of sniper training, Sniper traces the development of these feared huntsmen, marking their historical battles and their pivotal role in modern forces.
Includes 8 pages of authentic action photographs!
Customer Reviews:
Good info........2007-07-18
Very informative. Better if more illustrations/photos provided especially on the list of rifles. Can't visualize the rifle unless you're familiar with weapons.
educational, yet inspirational in ways.......2006-03-24
This has a lot of historical background, I didn't mind too much reading it in this book, however I became kind of annoyed as I saw the repeated history over and over in other sniper books. I have to disagree with the reviewer who disliked the reading. It was interesting how the sniper came to be, but there are chapters (which really interested me) which covered ballistics, training, qualifications for a sniper, techniques, proper aiming, effects of gravity, mirage, and wind. I thought it was amazing and if you didn't really enjoy it or thought it was interesting, you aren't a true fan of snipers. You can't always just read about blowing people's heads off, sometimes there needs to be straight "here's what they do, and this is the outcome" aspect. This book inspires one to be a sniper through it's stories, makes one respect the sniper for their needed skills, and gives you an understanding of what they do and why they do it. It was an amazing book, even though it was PURE straight forward facts.
A Good, Sound Study On Military Sniping.......2003-10-31
As a sargeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and student of military science, I found Mr. Gilbert's book to be a well-rounded history and description of the skills, tactics, and training of military snipers. The book commences with the impact of highly skilled marksmen on the outcome of the American Revolution and Civil War, and how firearms technology developed in the many decades since. The bulk of the history covers the affect of snipers in the major wars of the 20th century. There are also chapters describing marksmanship skills and how modern militaries train personnel in this specialized skill. This book will be enjoyed by military history buffs and sport-shooters in general.
Thorough and detailed, but not especially easy to read.......2003-04-22
Mr. Gilbert's book is remarkably thorough and well-researched. It includes an amazingly thorough bibliography and a fairly extensive listing of sniper rifles in use today.
The book starts with a history of sniping, and is very fair and balanced in its coverage. Unlike some books, Mr. Gilbert doesn't fall into the "we're the good guys and everyone else is slime" bias. For each war he talks plainly about which side was doing what, and how well it worked or didn't.
I found the chapter on Ammo particularly interesting, as it clearly describes bullets and their performance characteristics, including what happens when the hit something.
I take issue with some reviewers who suggest that this book teaches you about sniping. Although someone wanting to learn to be a sniper could potentially gain certain knowledge from this book, and although it is textbook-like in its tone, it is far from being some sort of how-to book. Someone who truly wanted "how to" specifics would be better off with any one of several books that are specifically written as instruction manuals.
I also take issue with the characterization of this book as an exciting or dramatic read. It is definitely not a page-turner. It describes the action in many wars and battles, but does not take you there with the immediacy of a book like "One Shot, One Kill."
Again, I find myself describing it as being like a textbook. Even though it goes into a lot of detail in many places, it also takes in broad sweeps of history. The best way I can think of to describe it is to say that, in this book, stories about individuals and their actions are brought in as secondary examples to illustrate the author's broader statements or claims. Other books tend to leave off most of the context and focus almost totally on the individuals and some of the actions they were involved in.
This books aims (no pun intended) to be very complete, while others aim to be entertaining ("entertaining" is not the best word to use to describe a book about shooting others, but you get the idea).
Don't get me wrong, though. It IS well-written, mind you! It is clear and factual, organized cleanly, and reasonably readable.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who is seriously into military books or sniping, or even someone who is a student of history, as sniping is an area that is rarely, if ever, even mentioned despite the significant impact it has had in almost all wars or military actions. If you are heavily interested in any of these areas, then you definitely should buy this book. You will enjoy it and appreciate the quality and thoroughness of the book. And you will almost surely learn a lot. Even though I struggled to get through some of the chapters, I was engrossed by other chapters, such as the one on Ammo.
However, if you're not particularly hard-core about the topic, you will probably not be drawn into it and may not even get through more than a couple of chapters before giving up.
Sniping 101.......2003-01-12
This book was rather disturbing in its true-to-life explination of the ways and workings of the standard Military sniper. Starting with an indepth history of sniping and its techniques, technoligy, and traditions, it leads you into a full clarification of the dynamics and requirements of being a successful sniper. I'd fear what could happen if this book was ever read by an unstable teen. Regardless, however, Gilbert relays the sincere reality of a sniper's mission, placing you behind the scope, anticipating the kill. A definate buy in my list, if you're a military buff.
Book Description
Acclaimed for "prose so steamy that it fogs one's reading glasses" (Booklist), Diane Whiteside's novels and short stories have kept vampire lovers begging for more. In this sizzling collection she crosses the border into the most hot-and-humid fantasies imaginable, featuring a trio of the most seductive bloodsuckers around.Look what Diane Whiteside has in mind:
Two wanton sisters are ushered into a world of sweltering carnal delights that only two strapping nightstalkers can offer.
A female cat burglar is caught in the act-and subjected to the most sublime punishment imaginable.
A reckless party girl with an insatiable craving for midnight cocktails meets a stranger with aninsatiable thirst of his own.
A generous young wife gives her husband the perfect present-a chance to indulge in his most dangerous fantasy.
A love-starved widow finds herself drawn to the intoxicating rhythms of a strangely compelling musician.
Customer Reviews:
A big bore!.......2006-08-03
I looked forward to this one because I liked her River Devil & Irish Devil stories alot, but this was a major snooze fest! The stories were dull, characters one-dimensional & the sex was so-so. If your looking for a sexy, vamp read this isn't it. What a disappointment.
for fans of vampiric sexual escapades.......2006-02-08
These ten erotic tales showcase the erotic tales exploits of three Lone Star vampires, Don Rafael, Ethan and Jean-Marie starting in Reconstruction Era Texas to modern day trysts. These are not romances with happy ever after endings, and the key characters, the vampiric trio and their one night stand women are never fully developed. However, the escapades are torrid, passionate, and run the gamut of much of the range of sexual encounters including bondage. An interesting twist is that the females recount their most ardent capers with their supernatural lovers though once told lose the memory of their greatest night of lovemaking. These stories are Venusian hot, perhaps even pornographic, yet well written; fans of vampiric sexual escapades will enjoy this collection while looking forward to feature starring roles of the Texas vampires.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
The shocking true story of the downfall of Jimmy Swaggart.
Customer Reviews:
Enlightening, except..........2006-01-02
Really a super book that sheds light on not only the Swaggart/Gorman issue but on the ongoing danger of idolizing ministers. My "except" refers to some misinformation Lundy gives, misinformation that could have been avoided by better research (or even by talking with someone knowledgeable about the Bakker debacle). For instance, Lundy says Bakker was Hahn's employer. Not so. There are other inaccuracies in his account of that day (pages 74...) Later, writing about Jim Jones, Lundy says the mass "suicide" happened in Georgetown. Nope. Anyway... still a good book, but one wonders if there are other inaccuracies.
Stunning.......2003-02-08
I read a lot of books over long periods of time. This book, though, was so good that I ignored my other responsibilities so I could finish it.
Boy, what an incredible story. As a 46-year-old man raised in the Assemblies of God (and still loves it), I can verify that his description of A/G churches is often true. The book is funny, compelling, and very easy to read. I've read perhaps 100 books in the last five years, and this one would go in my top 10.
Book has three problems. . . ........2002-07-28
1) Your total wealth decreases...
2) Once you start reading the book, the next four or five hours of your life is committed to finishing the book.
3) If the author ever writes anything else, you will be at high risk of buying it.
Kudo's to Counselor Lundy for his very well written and fascinating account of Evangelist's Swaggart's efforts to destroy Pastor Gorman.
The only thing disappointing about the book was the eventual outcome of the trial. In spite of winning his case, Marvin Gorman did not receive any financial compensation for his injuries. It would have been nice to have seen Jimmy Swaggart Theology Institute, Jimmy Swaggart Bible College, Jimmy Swaggart Worship Center, and Jimmy Swaggart World Television Headquarters go on the auction block.
Praise for Let Us Prey.......2001-03-29
You can't put this one down even though you may know how it ends! It's filled with suspense - drama - humor - love - and sadness. You will be amazed as the facts unfold and fall into place to tell this all-too-true story. Don't miss it!
Very well written.......1999-05-06
Very good reading and informative on the trial that I had not known before. It is a book that all lawyers should read.
Average customer rating:
- Superman's 2nd Battle Against Doomsday
- Really quite terrible
- they did it for the money, what else?
- The Rematch that Every one knew would happen
- Krypton Safety Net
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Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey
Dan Jurgens
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Superheroes | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Superman | Characters | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
DC Comics | Publishers | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
-
The Return of Superman
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World Without a Superman
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The Death of Superman
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Superman: The Doomsday Wars (Superman)
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Superman/Doomsday Omnibus
ASIN: 1563892014 |
Customer Reviews:
Superman's 2nd Battle Against Doomsday.......2007-04-24
This book is about Superman's quest to locate Doomsday after having recurrent nightmares. This book is not as good as the "Death of Superman" or the "Reign of the Supermen" but can help patch up the story of Doomsday.
Now this story occurs after Superman has already come back from the dead. Doomsday's origins are explained as well. Can Superman actually beat Doomsday, despite the fact that Doomsday evolves past what previously killed him? You can find out in this book.
Really quite terrible.......2006-04-30
If you ever want to read some really lousy story-telling I recommend this series. The writing's not awful, just... not very good. An excellent example of What Not To Do for aspiring comic book authors. The art's decent, I guess, but many panels remind me of the backs of cereal boxes, or those old Fox Kids magazines. If you want a story with minimal plot and a lot of action then this series is for you. If amateurish characterization (and really lousy dialogue) makes you gag... pass.
they did it for the money, what else?.......2003-12-08
If you want to see what's wrong with comics then Dan Jurgens' work is a good place to start, and if you want to know what's wrong with Jurgens' work this is a great place to start. Over the course of the last few years Jurgens' et al have managed to once again make Superman into the comic everyone reads and no one likes. How? Shameless manipulation of plot to sell comics, which is one of the things that's ruined comics. The other being some authors willingness to make comics "dark," which usually amounts to little more than creating violence porn. Jurgen's is guilty of this too, he made the Toyman darker (actually he Jurgens' Toyman is a Lifetime network psycho so I don't know how much dark that is and how much pathetic)making him a murderer rather than the goofy but enjoyable villain we knew, but at least he hasn't made Superman himself "dark." Supes doesn't kill and he doesn't brood too much.
Oh but wait he does both here. Traumatized by dying Superman decides to hunt down Doomsday's corpse to make sure he's definitely dead, and since Superman desecrating a body wouldn't really sell that many comics, Doomsday comes back to life. Superman sports the derided Supermullet here, so that kind of makes it entertaining, but not really. Much stuff is messed up and another motivationless force of badness is brought back to life. Terrible comic the art isn't even that great, and it is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the stuff Jurgens' had done to D.C.'s premier hero. Supes deserves better. Maybe Waid's new series will fix some of what he's broken.
The Rematch that Every one knew would happen.......2002-11-23
This is a follow up to the death and rebirth of Superman. FOr those who read that tale the Creature Doomsday slayed the MAn of Steel in one of COmics greatest Battles. Later an impostor known as the Cyborg took Doomsdays corpse (it died at the same time) and strapped it to an asteroid and threw it into the depths of space. In this tale it starts of with Superman still ahving Nightmares about the creature. Dead set on setting his fears aside he travels into the depths of space in search of the creature. Meanwhile a cargo ship picks up teh asteroid that Doomsday was on. It reawakens and slaughters all on the ship. As it turns out the ship is on it's way towards Apokolips. From there Doomsday wreaks havoc. Meanwhile Superman with the help of the Linear Men, more specifically Waverider discover the secret ORigion of the monster. In the end Superman and Doomsday have a rematch that is not as great as the first time, but the climatic end makes the story well worth owning.
Krypton Safety Net.......2001-06-25
When is someone going to write Superman so that it does not sound like the same writers that were writing for him in the 1930's? This book is full of the same cornball dialogue that has become a plague throughout Superman's career. Superman grew up human - why not make him sound like it? This book does allow us to see a more human side to Superman - one with fears and an eroding self-confidence. The problem is that this unique storyline is overshadowed by the grade school, dumb it down writing. The story also uses the old fail safe, when it doubt make it Kryptonian safety net. The greatest challenge in a story about Superman is finding something that can challenge him, Krypton is too easy and this reader is anxiously anticipating something else. Superman is the greatest superhero of all time, but his future is endanger with these tired run of the mill storylines.
Average customer rating:
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Nature Undercover - Hunters and Prey (Nature Undercover)
Beatrice McLeod
Manufacturer: Blackbirch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book
Biology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Math | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Camping | Sports & Activities | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1567115004 |
Book Description
Sit on a branch and spy on a chameleon catching its next meal with its sticky tongue. Soar with seagulls and witness them narrowly escaping a great white shark. Sneak up on tortoise eggs and witness the young use their "egg teeth" to break through the shells and hatch.
In Nature Undercover, incredible illustrations offer you the chance to get a perspective on nature that you can't get with any camera. Each piece makes the reader feel as if you are actually there, witnessing the animals in their private lives. Detailed spreads offer a wealth of information on all the aspects of animal life that make nature so awe inspiring. These volumes include:
- Full color throughout
- Index
- Resources for further study
Product Description
Squarebound prestige format comic book. Features Superman vs. Doomsday (the creature that "killed" him). Book 3 of 3.
Book Description
Maurice Bloch has for many years been developing an original and influential theory of ritual. In this book he synthesizes a radical theory of religion. Rituals in a great many societies deny the transience of life and of human institutions. Bloch argues that they enact this denial by symbolically sacrificing the participants themselves, so allowing them to participate in the immortality of a transcendent entity. Such sacrifices are achieved through acts of symbolic violence, ranging from bodily mutilations to the killing of animals. The theme is developed with reference to rituals of many types, from a variety of ethnographic sources, and Bloch shows that even exogamous marriage rituals can be reinterpreted in the light of this thesis. He concludes by considering the indirect relation of symbolic and ritual violence to political violence.
Customer Reviews:
Steve Jackson Games comes through with another good one........2003-06-04
It's something of an open secret that many who buy supplements for the Generic Universal Roleplaying System (GURPS), don't actually play the game. GURPS is certainly a sprawling nightmare of overlapping, and even contradictory, rules, but it's products like BLOOD TYPES that demonstrate why gamers keep buying GURPS products: they're very, very useful.
Taking a step away from the roleplaying game that swallowed the vampiric subgenre whole (VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE), BLOOD TYPES aims to be the definitive resource concerning the bloodsucking creatures. As with the best of the GURPS sourcebooks, BLOOD TYPES answers every question one could think to ask about the given subject, presenting exhaustive research in one easy-to-digest package. Also as per usual, the rules included are a turgid mess, but that doesn't make BLOOD TYPES any less of an engaging read.
Author Lane Grate seems to realize what a drag the GURPS rules can be, and delays their inclusion until nearly fifty pages into the book. He begins instead with an overview of the symbolic meaning of the literary/folkloric/filmic vampire, and the segues directly into an examination of the development of the vampiric legend in various world cultures, not overlooking "human vampires" like Elizabeth Bathory. His treatment of the Victorian literary vampire is quite interesting, and will likely spur readers of BLOOD TYPES to break out their old copies of Bram Stoker's DRACULA.
Grate does his best to keep the rules portion of BLOOD TYPES as painless as possible. The remainder of the book is occupied with vampiric character types and how to build them. One method presented is to select one of the more than a dozen archetypical vampire types from around the world and use the package of advantages and disadvantages given for them. Another is the DIY approach, where Grate provides a toolkit of "typical" vampiric traits, thereby encouraging GMs to create unique vampire types for their games.
The only real disappointment in BLOOD TYPES comes from the Game Master section of the book. Whereas in many GURPS titles this is a beefy chunk of the text, in BLOOD TYPES it's somewhat slender. After the in-depth discussion of the topic that precedes it - scarcely a topic is left unaddressed in the character-type and historical sections, for example - the GMs' advice seems weak by comparison. In contrast to some of the better GURPS books, Grate doesn't provide extensive suggestions for building and/or maintaining a vampire-centric campaign, but simply hits the high points, addresses crossovers with other GURPS titles in sidebars, and leaves it at that.
Taken as whole, BLOOD TYPES is a worthwhile purchase and a surprisingly entertaining read. As usual, the rules sections aren't useful for anyone but GURPS gamers, but the wealth of background and detailed research on vampires cannot help but inspire and inform GMs looking to create a vampiric campaign, or to incorporate these classic horrors into their existing game. From the stunning Timothy Bradstreet cover to the last page, BLOOD TYPES is good stuff.
Probably better than Vampire the Masquerade.......1998-08-30
I am a fan of Vampire the Masquerade and the GURPS books. The background info in this single book is far more interesting and the Vampires more versatile than in V:tM. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest you at least pick it up and give it a try. Highly valuable for GURPS GM's.
Product Description
Squarebound prestige format comic book. Features Superman vs. Doomsday (the creature that "killed" him). Book 2 of 3.
Books:
- Someone to Watch over Me
- Stand into Danger (The Bolitho Novels)
- Stop Sitting on Your Assets: How to Safely Leverage the Equity Trapped in Your Home and Transform It Into a Constant Flow of Wealth and Security
- The Adventures of Tintin: The Crab With the Golden Claws / The Shooting Star / The Secret of the Unicorn (3 Complete Adventures in 1 Volume, Vol. 3)
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- The Duke And I (Bridgerton Series, Bk. 1)
- The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
- The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals
- The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath
- The Star Witch (Fyne Witches, Book 3)
Books Index
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